Target Skills

Adding Creativity and Personality to a Paper.

Strong Verbs

Strong Verbs are verbs (an action… what you do) that add information and paint a picture in the reader’s mind. Example….

The bunny went across the field. The bunny scampered across the field.

WEAK… STRONG!

Other Examples:

raced crawled danced skipped

flew bolted zig-zagged hopped

The Dog Ate the BoneBy Melissa Forney

The dog ATE the bone.Don’t you think that’s kind of weak?

The verb here is “ate”But it needs a little tweak.The doge ATE the bone,Let’s try another verb.

One that’s really fun to write, One that’s quite superb.

The dog could DEVOUR the bone,NIBBLE, GNAW, or MUNCH it.

The dog could SNARK-UP the bone,GOBBLE, BITE, or CRUNCH it.

The dog could CONSUME the bone,Oh yes, that dog could do it,

INHALE the bone, IMPALE the bone, SWALLOW, GULP, or CHEW it.

So when you’re writing to impress,Don’t use a verb that fizzles.

Think of every word you know, And give me one that sizzles

Strong Verb Examples

• anticipated• dreaded• drooped• manipulated• magnified• vindicated• twitched• meandered

• karate-chopped• mystified• oozed• frolicked• evaporated• disciplined• blasted

Juicy Colors• Juicy color words are names of specific

colors.

For example:The pistachio green bug skidded across

the crystal clear water.

BUT WATCH OUT! Make sure they sound natural. Don’t overuse them!

Example Juicy Colors

• cherry red• robin’s egg

blue• fluorescent

yellow• pistachio

green• eggplant

• marigold• caution

orange• coffee brown• charcoal• raven• eggshell• pearl

Example Super-Star Colors

Super Star• rainbow• dalmation• camouflage• hologram• tutti-fruiti• Neapolitan• iridescent• Peppermint• Chocolate chip• Pimento cheese• Plaid• Polka dot• calico

Metallic• gold• silver• platinum• bronze• copper• steelSkin Tones• ivory• peaches n’cream• bronze• café-au-lait• mahogany• ebony

Jewel Tones• diamond• emerald• sapphire• topaz• ruby • citrine

Similes

• Similes compare two or more things using “like” or “as” in your sentence.

For example: 1. “My little brother is as clumsy as a bull

in a china shop when he runs through my room!”

2. “The sunset looks like a dazzling watercolor painting.”

Onomatopoeia

• Onomatopoeia are sound effects words. These are often the favorites of students.

BANG! RIIIINNNG!WOW! ZING!

CHOO-CHOO!

OnomatopoeiaBy Melissa Forney

Onomatopoeia,My, what a word!

It means every sound effect You have ever heard.

Crash, crunch, zing, zip,Meow, munch, roar, rip

Sizzle, crackle, splat, kerplunkBang, clank, woof, thunk

Hiss, whiz, oink, moo,Sniff, snap, cough, achoo,Dong, ding, pong, ping,Bong, bing, zap, zing!

I think that when You’ve read this list

You’ll get the main idea…All these crazy sound effects

Are onomatopoeia!Once you learn to say that word

You kind of want to yell it,But even though you yell the wordBut even though you yell the word

I bet you cannot spell it!You can learn to spell this word

In just a single day…O-N-O-M-A-T-O-P-O-E-I-A

Specific Emotion Words

• Specific emotion words are words that tell the reader exactly how someone feels.

Instead of I felt really good…..say….“I felt proud and helpful, like I had

contributed something.”

Specific Emotion Word Examples

POSITIVE• accepted• affirmed• cherished• empowered• praised• sympathetic• uplifted• honored

NEGATIVE• agitated• bedraggled• bewildered• chastised• disgusted• hesitant• humiliated• rebellious• perplexed

Sensory Words

Sensory words pinpoint the exact sense, or sensation, you are talking about.

• Instead of “I didn’t eat my sandwich, because it tasted bad”…. Say…

“I didn’t eat my sandwich, because it tasted stale.”

Sensory Word ExamplesSIGHT• Crystal clear• Opaque• Murky• Psychedelic• Stained• transparent

SOUND• clinking• grating• moaning• revving• rustling• screeching• sputtering

TASTE• burnt• bubbly• oily• rancid• Sour• Sugary• fresh

SMELL• antiseptic• decayed• earthy• grassy• mildewy• pungent• Salty• smoky

TOUCH• bristly• brittle• pleated• sandy• starchy• sticky• velvety

Metaphors

Metaphors are tools authors use to make rich comparisons between things that ordinarily wouldn’t be connected.

“The tornado became a raging bull, smashing everything in its path.”

“All animals fear the lion, the king of the jungle, who stalks and kills at will.”

“Sky jewels twinkled overhead in the night sky with elegant splendor.”

An easy way to create one is to start with a noun or object and state that it became something else, like in the first example.

Super Creativity

Alert!

Transitional Words

Transitional words and phrases keep our thoughts from sounding choppy or disjointed.

It’s like dominoes when they are knocked down. They make the whole story flow together one after the other from beginning to end.

Paragraph with Transitions

My brothers and sister and I have certain jobs we do to help the rest of the members of our family. For example, my main job each week is keeping our van clean. By the way, that’s a big job, let me tell you you. To begin with, I have to clean out all of the trash! Just think about it, I have to touch the rotten, decaying food while lugging it out to the street. You have to admit, that’s a pretty nasty job.

Example Transitional Words

• Afterward,• At the same time,• Consequently,• Gradually,• I’ll be the first to

admit,• Incidentally,• Naturally,• Simply stated,• In retrospect,

• To illustrate,• There is no doubt

that…• Since,• Once again,• Specifically,• Suddenly• Without warning,• On the other hand,

Dialogue

• Writing down what people say is called dialogue. It can be a complete sentence or a word or two.

• Dialogue is like jewelry or diamonds on someone at church or some place formal. A little bit is just enough. You don’t want to be the old lady wearing gobs of jewelry… it’s overdone and gaudy!

• THE KEY is to sound NATURAL! It’s okay to not use complete sentences or phrases if that’s the way someone really speaks!

• Anytime a new person speaks, start a new paragraph.

Example paragraph

Toni cradled the horse’s head in her arms and whispered softly into his ear. “Hey, Boy…hey. I love you. Know that?” His wide, liquid eyes never left hers. “And don’t worry, cause I’m never going to sell you. I’m never going to leave you. He nuzzled her hand. “Yeah… You understand, don’t you, Boy.”

Punctuating Dialogue

• Use quotation marks to surround spoken words.• Put all punctuation marks inside the quotation

marks.• Indent each time someone new is speaking.

Example:“I think it’s too cold to go skating on the

pond today.”“Me, too! Let’s go get some hot chocolate.”“Maybe the weather will be warmer

tomorrow.”

Tagged Dialogue

• If an author wants you to know who’s talking, they ‘tag’ the dialogue with something like, he said or she said or use a name like, Mike said.

Examples:“I don’t know what to do about the gorilla

under my bed,” he said.Stan asked, “Are you nagging me?”

Special Tags

• It’s boring to write ‘said’ all the time. Special tags use strong verbs instead.

Example: • “I’m not going to eat the rest of my

dinner,” she whined.

Examples of Special Tags

• Accused• Admitted• Answered• Begged• Babbled• Claimed• Commented• Congratulated• Declared• Cried• Echoed

• Expressed• Giggled• Implored• Lectured• Laughed• Objected• Pleaded• Proposed• Rambled• Raved• Sassed• snickered

Take-Away Endings

• Takeaway is one or two sentences that tell the reader what the main character learned, or how his life has changed.

Example: “I’ll never forget this place as long a I live.”

Example Take-Aways

1. My close call with a giant alligator has certainly taught me not to dangle my feed in the water while canoeing.

2. Getting that little puppy for my birthday has changed my life. I now have a lifelong friend who loves me, just for being me.

3. You can be sure that I won’t be playing around lawn mowers after my long day in the Emergency room.

4. Now I know, even an alien from outer space needs a friend.

5. In retrospect, cleaning my room wasn’t such a bad idea after all.